Boricubos
The Main Islands of the Archipelago
Datio
There are many islands which make up the Boricubosan Archipelago, though there are five primary ones which are settled. The largest is known as Datiao, an island dominated by jungle and rivers which run throughout the island. This island is primarily populated by Anabaguas and Coquían as its jungles are the most untouched by the other races. The people of Datiao are proud of their waters, be they the rivers and lakes which dot the landscape or the beaches which are inhabited by the Baracúden as one of the primary islands that have been attacked by Adaro and Sahuagin invaders. The island remains for the most part untouched by The Civil War, as the other races respect the autonomy of the coquían and anabaguas, however, there are doubts as to how long this will last until one side or another drags both the other races into the war. Some speculate that if this happens, the anabaguas and coquían would form their own faction and fight against both sides in order to restore the peace their own way.
Karyan
To the Northwest of Datiao is an island known as Karayan is largely uninhabited by the natives of Boricubos, having lost that territory to calculated Adaro and Sahuagin attacks ever since The Civil War. The only race truly defending the island’s inhabitants, the Taínem, were the Baracúden, and since they are on opposite sides of the civil war, they recently stopped in hopes of taking the island back in the future when the war is won. The remaining taínem, dismayed that the baracúden would use such a tactic to weaken them, fled to the other islands on the archipelago, leaving entire villages and cities intact. The only ones remaining to fight against the sahuagin invaders are the Coquían who are fiercely territorial of the jungles on the island, and the Anabaguas who stubbornly refuse to leave their cities deep in the jungle.
Lukiyo
To the Southeast of Datiao is the island of Lukiyo, which is dominated by mountainous terrain in the jungle and most prominently a massive volcano named Boina’s Breath, named after the goddess of the sun and volcanos, Boina. This island is populated by Taínem and Wolákani, but the primary race on this island are the Iguacas who call the mountainous jungle home. It is notable that Boina’s Breath is a perpetually active volcano which has never erupted in such a way that it has harmed the inhabitants of the archipelago, even if it has forced quite a few of them to evacuate from their locations throughout the millennia. The People of Boricubos pray to Boina daily that she gives them ample time to flee from the destructive power of the volcano and she has always obliged them this request. Another distinguishing feature of Lukiyo is that it is the birthplace of magic on Boricubos, as the mountains of this island are where the iguacas not only set up their villages today, but also where they invented magic, or so it is said. There seems to be truth to these words as the mountaintops of this island are perpetually supercharged with magical energy and spells which should have minimal effect instead turn out to be far more powerful than intended. Despite all the iguaca mercenary groups such as Freedom's Flight and those who oppose them all being located on this island, none of them ever attack each other’s homes in some sort of unspoken agreement to leave the fighting to other battlefields.
Kukachi
North of Lukiyo is the smallest of the major islands but perhaps the most densely populated as all the races of the archipelago call it home. Kukachi as the island is known, used to be an island of peace and cultural blending between the races of Boricubos, where the Boricubosan capital of Caríbite is located. But ever since the war broke out, there is no safe place on the island, with even the capital of Caríbite being the site of destructive attacks and large-scale battles and occupations. As a coastal city, Caríbite is home to several thousand people of all different races, including the Anabaguas and Coquían who have moved outside of their usual jungle environment to blend with the other races. Now, however, people in Caríbite live in fear just to walk outside of their homes as the smallest disagreement between two people can turn into bloody conflict, especially if they are of races which oppose each other in the war. More than a few of innocent bystanders have been accidentally or purposely drawn into battles, making it a dangerous place to live nowadays with frequent aerial bombardments from magical warriors such as Iguacas, Taínem fishermen being attacked by Baracúden while they are simply trying to do their jobs, and homes being razed to the ground by religious zealots who claim that they are simply doing their gods’ will. On the other side of things, the taínem and Wolákani have recently been polluting the waters in Caríbite in hopes that this would harm and weaken the baracúden and hurákani who live by the shore. Control over the city frequently flips back and forth between sides of the war, and recently there has been a mass exodus out of the capital to safer areas of the archipelago.
Choreto
Finally, to the Southeast of Kukachi is the island of Choreto, which is another major battleground in the war. Before the war began, it was the site of the primary temples of all the gods in the Boricubosan pantheon, so the area is hotly contested, with a combination of people attempting pilgrimages to these temples while there are battles going on all over the island. The temples of Ataba and Yokaho are largely guarded by warriors of their respective faiths making them prime targets for attacks by rival factions, with each side hoping that by taking the temple of their opposed god, that they would be able to end the war much sooner than later. So far, this has yet to happen, but there have been bloody battles fought over these religious sites that do not seem to end.
Piraguen
There are many other islands in the archipelago, each with their own names and traditions, with battles occurring on them from time to time, but the ones aforementioned are by far the most prominent. There is one smaller island, however, that is gaining prominence in the archiepelago is Piraguen, a small island to the West of Kukachi. Before the war, there was little that was special about it, but now it serves as a place for refugees of the war to come and lay down new roots. Perhaps most importantly, besides the refuge that it offers survivors of battles and raids on various villages are the Dragon Sceletons which have been found in deeper parts of the waters by Baracúden hoping to escape conflict. Before this, dragons had only been a rumor, something that Adaro and Sahuagin spoke of from distant shores, but these were real skeletons which have been unearthed, showing that the dragons may have lived on the Boricubosan archipelago long ago. With this discovery, many turned to the Anabaguas, the supposed oldest race on the island, but with The Blight having killed all the anabagua elders who would have remembered a time where dragons roamed Boricubos, none can say for sure how those skeletons got there or if the dragons would become a threat in the future. After all, no one knows what lurks deep in the waters of Boricubos, not even the baracúden who are acclimated to living by the shores.
History
The Civil War
The main conflict which has The People of Boricubos occupied is by far The Civil War between the races on the island. With Ataba’s chosen races on one side, Yokaho’s on the other, Iguacas mercenaries fighting for both sides, and the Anabaguas and Coquían caught square in the middle, this war has taken a toll on everyone in Boricubos, from civilians, to priests, to warriors. It is impossible to overstate the effects that the war has had on people, from entire villages to being burned to the ground to religious persecution where members of certain faiths were killed because of their religious beliefs or just their race, this being a highly racial war, after all.
Baracúden, a fractioned people
Not only this, but differences within the same racial groups have begun to arise, with the Baracúden being a prime example of this. When given the call to destroy the Taínem and Wolákani, many members of the baracúden race were conflicted; they were meant to be defenders of all people on the archipelago, not fight against them. At the same time, who are they to ignore mandates from the gods themselves? This has led to a split into two separate factions amongst the baracúden: the religious zealots known as Ataba’s Faithful and the group that opposes them at every turn known as the Defenders of the Archipelago. Ataba’s Faithful are some of the most extreme members of her faith actively hunting down those who worship Yokaho amongst their own people and readily joining the front lines on any battle with the taínem and the wolákani. Though Ataba is meant to be a good goddess, her subtly condoning the actions of Ataba’s Faithful in imprisoning and executing members of other faiths and races has led many, especially the Defenders of the Archipelago, to believe that the goddess has gone mad in the grief of losing her son. As of yet, Ataba’s Faithful and the Defenders of the Archipelago have come to blows but have not killed each other for the bonds of racial kinship still stand, but some wonder how much longer this tenuous peace wil
Iguacas, a people on the rise
Also worrisome for some is the ever-expanding power of the Iguacas and their mercenary companies, especially the one known as Freedom's Flight. While Freedom’s Flight not so subtly favors Ataba's side of the war, only ever siding with the Baracúden and Hurákani in conflicts, there are many other iguacan mercenary groups who choose to side with Yokahos chosen people. In supporting both sides of the war, the iguacan people are collecting quite a bit of social capital and material possessions such as magic items which would by far make them some of the most powerful people on Boricubos. Though most people dismiss the idea that the iguacas would ever do anything to harm the people on the archipelago, there are many Taínem who feel that their time as the dominant race in Boricubos is swiftly coming to an end. Freedom’s Flight themselves make it clear that they support Ataba’s side of the war because should they win, that means the iguacas would be the de facto masters of both the land and the sky, a prospect which is fine by some so long as it results in peace, but scares others as they fear that the iguacas would make cruel rulers who have not forgotten the gods stealing away their gift of magic and distributing it to all the other races. Freedom’s Flight denies such claims, with its leader, Reapok, stating that she would lead the people of Boricubos to greater heights than ever before, revolutionizing the island with magics yet unseen by the rest of the world and finally help rid the seas of the Adaro and Sahuagin threats.
Marauding outsiders
And threats they are. The Adaro and Sahuagin appeared in Boricubos at different times, but quickly became fast allies with one another, hoping to take the land and sea for themselves, using the sahuagin as shock troops to clear the land of any valuables and bringing them to their underwater lairs. So far this has proved an effective strategy by the coalition, especially considering that The Civil War in Boricubos has left the island of Karayan undefended and ripe for the taking. In an event known as The Week of Blood, sahuagin and adaro forces attacked the island in full force, oftentimes simply bypassing areas that would normally have been defended by the Baracúden but were abandoned because of the war effort. Countless Taínem and Wolákani died that week, and those that survived quickly fled to other islands. Part of the reason the combined threat of the adaro and the sahuagin is so effective is because the sahuagin have seemingly developed ways of creating magic items which allow them to breathe perpetually on land, allowing them to roam the jungles and cities of the taínem and wolákani freely. Meanwhile, the adaro are fearsome combatants within the water, with one adaro being more than a match for the standard Hurákani or baracúden warrior.
The Blight
Besides the violence caused by the war and vicious outsiders, The Blight has affected the Anabaguas population to such an extreme that an estimated twenty-five percent of all anabaguas have died. This pandemic has no clear cause and worse yet, no cure, with the anabaguas and Coquían working together to search for one but to no avail. Worse yet, the prayers to the gods have left them with no answers regarding The Blight, meaning that they have to find out for themselves how exactly to deal with such a malady. Selfless as they are, the surviving anabaguas are less so worried about themselves dying off, thought that is a concern, but rather, they are afraid that The Blight will mutate and eventually start affecting other races besides themselves. This is a fear that the coquían share, as Boricubosan legend states that the other races started off as seeds planted by the anabaguas. If this is true, then it is not a stretch to believe that The Blight could spread to other races.
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